Flourless Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I think I’m starting to get really spoiled with these blender muffin recipes. I can’t be bothered to take out bowls and spoons, or measure flour anymore. I mean, who has time for that?

Muffins are so easy to make this way that I’m afraid I’ll never go back to “normal” baking. And when they’re easily adapted to whatever flavor you’re currently craving, as you’ve probably seen me do here, here, here and here, there’s not much reason to.

But in all honesty, adapting this particular muffin recipe really gave me a run for my money. I made three batches in one day before finally achieving success. The first two turned out like little hard, dense hockey pucks. I was so frustrated that I was ready to throw them at the wall but I was worried they might leave a hole.

After crying in misery and chewing my way through a couple of lemon-flavored hockey pucks, I decided to start doing some research to figure out where I went wrong. Eventually I managed to find some helpful information on a random baking forum that said the acids in the lemon juice react with the baking soda and that there’s a second reaction that takes place in the oven which causes them to rise. Well apparently the second reaction wasn’t taking place, which I *think* might be due to the fact that everything is combined at once in the blender.

Have I lost you yet?

Anyways, using a base (like yogurt) to balance the acids might have helped but you guys know I like my muffins dairy-free so I wasn’t about to go that route. Ultimately I decided to nix the lemon juice and instead up the amount of zest to give them more of a lemon flavor. It felt like an eternity as I waited in anticipation, peering nervously through the oven door, but eventually I saw those pretty little muffin tops rise like mountains.

So the moral of this (very boring) story is that I don’t recommend using lemon juice in this recipe unless you want to replace the applesauce with yogurt. Although, I can’t definitely confirm that will work because I haven’t tried it myself, but my suspicion is that it would.

Even without the lemon juice, they still have a delicious lemon flavor from the zest. I topped them with a simple glaze (just to make them look extra pretty for the pictures) which gives them even more lemony flavor, but you’ll probably want to leave that out if you’re looking for a healthy everyday muffin.

Lemon Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F then grease or line a muffin tin for 12 muffins and set aside.

In a blender or a food processor, layer the yogurt, eggs, almond milk, vanilla extract, maple syrup, coconut sugar, 2 cups rolled oats, baking soda, baking powder and lemon zest (make sure they are in that order- you want the liquid items to be on the bottom). Add the melted coconut oil last then blend on high for about 20 seconds, until smooth. Lastly, add the poppy seeds and the remaining 1/2 cup of oats to the blender and blend for a few seconds so that they’re evenly distributed.

Pour the batter into the muffin tin so that each is filled approximately 3/4 of the way full then bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until light golden brown.

If you’re making the icing, combine the powdered sugar and the lemon juice in a small bowl and stir vigorously until smooth. Once the muffins have cooled, drizzle about one teaspoon on each and sprinkle with lemon zest.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

*UPDATE: I edited this recipe to include yogurt instead of applesauce because I find that it yields a more consistent result. I made them with non-dairy almond milk yogurt but you can use any kind of yogurt you prefer.

**I’ve had readers mention that 2 flax eggs work well as a substitute.

Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by rating the recipe, leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback!

55 comments

These sound like the perfect Saturday morning, Easter brunch, regular brunch, or whenever you want delicious breakfast muffins. I love lemon poppyseed and haven’t had the flavor combo in ages…now the craving has hit me!! :)

Oh the trails and tribulations of recipe development!! ;-) Glad that you finally got it right! I posted a lemon poppy seed muffin recipe on the blog a long time ago, and it used lemon curd… so that’s another way to get that lemony flavor, though I like the idea of using fresh lemon zest better!

I remember seeing these on instagram a little while ago and I couldn’t stop lookingg ate the picture! These muffins are simply gorgeous and sounds so delicious! Love that glaze :)

I am looking forward to making these beauties. Thanks for persevering through your trials before you hit the sweet spot for successfully making these muffins so the rest of us can make and enjoy them the first time out. Lemon anything speaks springtime to me, thanks!

Now all I can think about is you throwing the earlier versions at the wall!! haha I feel that way sometimes with baking recipes!! These sound completely delicious – I love using poppy seeds in baking!

Oh, Sarah, you gave me such a good laugh about lemony hockey pucks, holes in the wall, and chewing through 2 said hockey pucks. haha Sorry to laugh at your expense, but it did turn out SO amazingly well. These are definitely not hockey pucks and I loved hearing about your citrus-y baking research. These are happening soon! :)

They look so fresh and summery! I love lemon flavored things in the morning. They remind me of sunshine haha :)

Sometimes I feel like baking science can be so frustrating, especially when having to work around gf or df requirements. I’m glad you stuck this one out because these sound sooo good! I haven’t tried blender muffins but I cannot wait to give this recipe a try! xo.

Made these muffins this past week as I have a daughter,sister, niece and daughter in law that are all gluten free. They were a huge hit and I will be making another batch today …. They are begging me for more! Thanks for a delicious recipe!

Do you think I could substitute chia seeds for poppy seeds? Thank you! P.S. You posted two links to the original chocolate peanut butter blender muffins, but forgot the morning glory variety.

Thanks for catching that, Abby! :)

I think chia seeds would work, just be careful not to let the batter sit too long or it will start to thicken. It will also change the texture because poppy seeds aren’t quite as crunchy as chia seeds. But I think they would still be good. Let me know if you end up trying them!

My daughter can not have apples. What could I use in place of the applesauce?

Hi Mary! You can try using yogurt (non-dairy or dairy) instead. Let me know if you give them a try!

These are so delicious!!!! My kids devoured them (4 kids 10 and under). I already want to make them again and we just ate them last night! I used flax eggs since I can’t have real eggs and they turned out great. I also used agave and a small amount of brown sugar instead of maple and coconut. No reason, just because. :) I can’t wait to try your other varieties. I think I will make all of them, then freeze them so I have on hand to pull out when we need a quick breakfast or just a tasty treat. Thank you!

I’m so happy to hear that, Tiana! I’m glad to know they work with flax eggs too. Thank you for the feedback! :)

These sound really good, and look forward to trying them! I’m just a little confused on the recipe vs the ingredient list. I’m assuming the baking powder and baking soda go in the blender with the layered ingredients, but I didn’t see how much coconut sugar to use in the ingredient list- just saw to put that in the layering process. Never used coconut sugar either- do the muffins have a coconut flavor because of it? Also 3rd question- how much applesauce would I use if I want to make it with that instead of yogurt?

Hi Mel! Sorry for the confusion. I just updated the recipe to reflect the correct amounts. The coconut sugar does not make them taste like coconut. It’s just an alternative to brown sugar that is supposed to be more nutritious. But you can use whatever sugar you might have on hand (white or brown). For the applesauce substitution, you would use the same amount of yogurt. I hope that helps!

What would you recommend as a ketogenic diet friendly replacement for the rolled oats? I’m still new to this eating style and I’ve gotten pretty good at replacing sugars, etc. But I’m still having trouble in the grain replacing department! These look & sound so deliciously mouth-watering. I know my whole family would love them! Thanks!

Perfect Poppy Seed muffins! Followed the yoghurt recipe and I Love it! Thanks!!!

Rating: 5

Yay! Thanks Diana! :)

These were really easy to make and the lemon flavor is very mild. They baked perfectly at your recommended time. I used yogurt in mine and I left off the glaze to save myself from eating extra sugar but I bet it would be delicious. They weren’t as light and fluffy and your blueberry muffins I made last week but I still really enjoy these too!

Rating: 5

I know, the acid from the lemon can make them shrink after they’re baked. I’ve had some batches turn out fluffy and some not while using the same exact ingredients. It’s so annoying. But I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thank you, as always, for the feedback! xo

I made these muffins yesterday for Easter (today) and my family ate them all! I woke up this morning and had to make another batch to bring to our celebration! I used dark brown sugar instead of coconut sugar because that is what we had on hand. As a side note, the recipe narrative does not say to add salt but it is listed in the ingredient list. What do you think about honey instead of coconut sugar? Just curious! Thanks for the awesome recipe!

I think you could use honey instead of coconut sugar and that would work fine. It might make them a little more moist and alter the texture some but they would still taste delicious!

These are delicious! I’ve made them twice now for meetings and they were GONE after a few minutes both times. The first time, I omitted the coconut sugar (my colleagues and I are doing 10 days of no added sugar but syrup and honey is fine) and accidentally forgot the coconut oil, but they still turned out great. I also ran out of yogurt so I used sour cream! They seemed to need more lemon zest, so I upped it to about 4 tbsp and almond milk to 1/2 cup. The second time, I added a little more maple syrup due to no coconut sugar and I ran out of oats but had oat flour. So I “winged” it and put in 3 cups but I don’t think that was enough because they were a little flat on the top. Still great flavor though. The mini muffins needed about 10 minutes of baking time.

My question is… if I run out of oats again, do you know how many cups of flour is equal to 2.5 cups of oats? Thank you for all your amazing recipes!

Rating: 5

Hey Hayley! I’m so glad you enjoyed these too. I would think that the amount of oats would be the same as the oat flour but it seems like that’s not the case based on your experience. I would try to add another 1/2 cup and see if that helps!

Hi Sophia! I’m working on getting nutrition facts on my recipes but in the mean time you can calculate them with MyFitnessPal.com by copying and pasting the URL of the recipe into their site.

I’m always searching for healthy muffins and our new home has a lemon tree, so this recipe was perfect! I used a Goat Milk yogurt that I had on hand (I prefer greek yogurt, but this worked well). The macros are a little high for me, but they do come from the “better” sweeteners – real maple syrup and coconut sugar. For those of you who count your macros, I came up with 243 cal, 7.5g protein, 42g carbs, 5g fat. This is MINUS the glaze and with goat milk yogurt.

Hi Robyn! I haven’t tried making these into a loaf so I can’t say for sure if it will work. It may need to cook for longer. But please let us know if you give it a try!

Soooo ….I am about to Make these for the 3rd time, doubled each time! They are SO good! I didn’t think I could have a GF muffin I liked, but the Lemon Poppy flavor was enough to get my attention so I gave these a whirl. I Couldn’t be happier. My SIL and I have been living on these! Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!